Flying Blind
by dytabytes
Summary: MA:Avengers  Hank tries to ask Janet out on a date.


Hank was trying really, really hard to pay attention to what Jan was saying, but it was challenging, to say the least. There were so many other things distracting him.

For one, Jan was beautiful. The way she flicked her hair behind her ears, the loud, unashamed way her laughter burst from her mouth, the soft, sweet smell of her perfume - everything about her enchanted him. It always had... Which was the reason for his other distraction.

Hank really wasn't sure when he fell in love with Janet Van Dyne, but now that he knew that he was, he hadn't been able to figure out how to tell her. He'd been thinking and thinking the entire time they'd been having lunch, but now they were waiting for the bill and he still hadn't thought of anything to say. Finally, when he caught a glimpse of the waiter approaching, he blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

"I noticed when you cut your hair."

"I'm sorry?"

Jan tipped her head to the side and gave him that adorable puzzled look that she tended to throw at him when he was talking about ants, but Hank had already jumped into this mess, so he figured that he had to see it through to the end.

"I never notice anyone's hair. Ever. I mean, the only reason why I even notice my _own_ is because it starts getting in my eyes and I keep having to brush it away to do my research..." He ran a hand through his bangs self-consciously. "But the point is that even though I ever notice things like this normally, I was the first person to notice when you got a trim. Because I can't help but ... see you. All the time."

Nervously, Hank looked down and fiddled with a loose thread at the cuff of his sleeve. "And, um, I guess I was just wondering if I could take you out to dinner some time? On a date? I mean, if you don't mind or anything, because I know that I-"

And now it was Jan's turn to cut Hank off, pressing a finger to his lips with a little smile on her face.

"Hank, I don't think you noticed, but we're _on_ a date."

After watching Hank blink blankly at her for a few seconds, Janet waved at the restaurant. "I asked you out to lunch. To eat together. _Just the two of us_."

The flush that spread up Hank's face was slow, but all-encompassing and pretty soon he was red all the way to he tips of his ears.

"...oh." Embarrassed, he looked down, fiddling with his napkin in his lap. "Well I feel a little dumb now. Or, a lot dumb, actually."

Jan was saying something, but he wasn't really listening, just picking bits of paper off his napkin and trying to ignore the heat in his face. Only, Jan's voice... didn't usually boom like that?

"Hank!" Jan stood and leaned over the table to look Hank in the eye. "Hank, did you even notice you were shrinking?"

"No?" And that was just even more embarrassing, so Hank shrunk more, much to his mortification.

"Oh honey." And somehow, even though he was the biggest (or, rather, tiniest) dork in the world, Jan didn't leave. Instead, she was suddenly shrunk to his size and fluttering over the tabletop to land on the chair beside him. Without any hesitation, she cupped his cheek in her hand, smiling warmly. "You are just too cute, did you know that?"

Hank couldn't help but perk up a little at that. "Really?" A little flame of hope flickered in his chest. Maybe he hadn't screwed this up beyond repair.

Jan laughed and wow, her eyes lit up like jewels when she smiled like that. "Really."

"Oh." Suddenly, Hank realized that their faces were very close together and, well, Jan did just tell him that he was cute. Slowly, he covered her hand with his own and leaned forward just a bit. "So you don't mind if I...?"

Rather than answering, Jan laughed and closed the distance, pressing her lips to his. The kiss was tender and sweet and, if he was going to be embarrassingly honest, Hank's first. He was actually pretty lucky in that regard because even if he had no idea what he was doing, Jan was really good at this.

They could have kissed forever (or at least for a very long time), but then a horrified moan echoed above their heads.

"God_damn_it, they split without paying the bill!"

Hank broke away, eyes wide, and immediately sized back up.

"Oh no! No, we're still here! Um!"

In his panic, he managed to overdo it a bit, and the waitress reeled back a little from the nine-foot-tall man who had suddenly appeared and started waving his hands in her face.

"Calm down, honey. You're scaring her." Jan re-sized a moment after Hank had, putting a hand on his shoulder to quiet him while she pressed a wad of bills into the shell-shocked girl's hand. "Sorry about that. Here. Keep the change."

With that, she took Hank's hand and started leading him out of the restaurant. He waved apologetically at the waitress, then pulled himself back to his natural size to get out the door.

"So, um..."

"Mm?" Jan raised her eyebrow and Hank bashfully continued.

"Could I... take you for a second date? Sometime? Maybe, um, Friday? At eight?"

Smiling, Jan squeezed his hand. "It's a date."

Hank's face lit up as he squeezed back. "Yes. A date. "


End file.
